In an interview, the CEO of OnePlus speaks about the various decisions which were made leading up to the OnePlus 6T.

Although brands such as Xiaomi, Samsung and OnePlus’ parent company Oppo tend to push actual sales volumes, premium buyers on the internet are largely in love with OnePlus. It’s this love affair that has led to the company’s rapid growth from an edgy ‘flagship killer’ to an approach, which now touts it more as a sensibly priced flagship, rather than a phone that’s out to get other more expensive phones.

This approach has meant that the focus has shifted from the price to the features on offer, and this is more visible than ever with the upcoming OnePlus 6T. In a recent interview, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau speaks on an important couple of changes expected on the OnePlus 6T, and the rationale behind them.

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“This has been one of the most difficult decisions for us to make,” said Lau. “The most difficult task in the day-to-day is… finding a balance in what’s ultimately going to be part of the end product and what has to be said ‘No’ to,” said Lau through an interpreter in his interview with CNET. He is, of course, referring to the company’s announcement that the OnePlus 6T will not come with the 3.5mm headphone jack, a feature that has been a part of its products till the OnePlus 6 despite other smartphone makers dropping support for the legacy audio standard.

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Lau states that the reason for this is to make room for the in-display fingerprint sensor, which is placed under the screen of the phone fairly close to where the headphone jack sits. He says that it was a choice between implementing the modern in-display sensor or retaining the classic port, and the company decided to go with the futuristic option, considering this to be more important to users.

Pete Lau further believes that though people may miss the 3.5mm jack, it is no longer a significant factor that decides what device most customers will purchase. That is to say that OnePlus buyers will still buy the OnePlus 6T for all of its other pros, even if they consider the lack of the headphone jack to be a drawback.

WATCH: OnePlus 6 First Look

While ‘T’ devices for OnePlus have been small upgrades over the number versions, the OnePlus 6T does seem to pack in more over the OnePlus 6 than earlier ‘T’ versions have done over their respective number versions. This comes in the form of the new-age fingerprint sensor, the smaller screen notch and the likelihood that the OnePlus 6T will launch with Android 9 Pie out-of-the-box. We’ll find out soon enough, as the OnePlus 6T is set to be launched on October 16.